Irons Publishes Book on Race in the Civil Rights Era

Associate Professor of Sociology Jenny Irons has published a book, Reconstituting Whiteness: The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, with Vanderbilt University Press. She also recently published a review of Ziad Munson's book on pro-life mobilization, The Making of Pro-Life Activists: How Social Movement Mobilization Works, in the March 2010 issue of the American Journal of Sociology.

According to the publisher, "In Reconstituting Whiteness, sociologist Jenny Irons explores the tactics and legacy of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, an agency of the state that existed from 1956 to 1977 and was devoted exclusively to defending and supporting the institution of segregation. Using a myriad of surveillance and public relations efforts, the commission was unique in its expanse and resistance during a time of change.

"Going far beyond a mere institutional history, however, Irons uses the commission as a tool to explore the intersection of state-organized defense of white supremacy and the dramatically shifting racial constructs of the civil rights era."